The present invention relates to the determination of consistent architectural elements in geological models.
Architectural elements have been first defined by Pickering et al. in 1998 as an interpretive characterization of a sedimentary feature distinguished on the basis of its geometry, scale and facies.
The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. Furthermore, all embodiments are not necessarily intended to solve all or even any of the problems brought forward in this section.
Architectural elements determination is important for modeling petroleum, oil and/or gas reservoirs. Thus, determination of limits and contours of architectural elements is a key point for geologists.
After a discovery of a reservoir, petroleum engineers and/or geologists seek to build a clear picture of the accumulation. Most of the time, the first stage is to conduct a seismic survey to determine the possible size of the trap and to estimate the volume of oil bearing reservoir. Geologists, geophysicists and reservoir engineers work together to build a model which enables simulations (for instance, simulation of the flow of fluids in the reservoir) leading to improved estimates of oil/gas reserves.
Nevertheless, the seismic survey does not always provide data and images that enable a clear cut determination of the architectural elements and, then, do not always enable a clear cut determination of the size/configuration of the trap.
For instance, the seismic data may be “blurred” and contours of the architectural elements may be uncertain for the interpreters (geologists or reservoir engineers).
When several architectural elements are very close/in contact, it may be difficult to adapt their limits/contour in a coherent manner.
Stochastic methods may be used to modify the contours of architectural elements. Nevertheless, modifications of contours of architectural elements may create an inconsistent model regarding geological logic.
For instance, a first architectural element may have to be included in a second architectural element (e.g. a stream channel and the bed of the channel). Moreover, a first architectural element may have to be in contact with a second architectural element (e.g. a splay and the bed of a channel).
Therefore, the modification of the contours of the first/second architectural element should not violate these rules.
There is thus a need for consistently determining contours of architectural elements in a geological model.